MotoGP Sepang: Pole record for Martin as title fighters flounder

Prima Pramac’s Jorge Martin secured pole position with a new 1’57.790 all-time record at Sepang in a dramatic MotoGP qualifying session.

All three title challengers floundered in the closing stages with Pecco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro crashing out and Fabio Quartararo saving a turn eight moment on his final lap. The trio lining up ninth, tenth and twelfth respectively as Gresini’s Enea Bastianini and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez completed the front row for the Malaysian GP.

A dramatic qualifying day saw both Ducati Lenovo riders Bagnaia and Jack Miller facing the Q1 fight alongside Pramac’s Johann Zarco and eight-time champion Marquez. Monster Energy Yamaha’s Franky Morbidelli penalised with a double long lap penalty in Sunday’s race following his part in the FP3 controversy after running slow on the racing line and impeding the front runners while teammate Quartararo suffered a crash and left hand injury in FP4.

Q1 fired up with the threat of rain adding to the anxiety as Bagnaia led a pack of seven. Both Repsol riders firmly on the Italian’s tail as he registered the 1’58.895 benchmark with Miller just under two tenths adrift for second.

WithU Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow sat third after the opening efforts, half a second shy of the factory Ducati pairing with Zarco 0.085s behind. Friday hero Brad Binder circulating fifth from Honda’s Pol Espargaro and both Marquez brothers before Gresini’s Fabio Di Giannantonio arrived to fifth.

Binder was the next to climb as he dispatched the Brit for third. Bagnaia improving his advantage out front by a further two tenths while Tech3’s Remy Gardner found the limit at turn eight, from seventh in the standings.

The halfway stage found the Ducati garage deep in discussions ahead of the